Why Do I Have A Car Payment?
I own two vehicles ---- technically only one because I've got a year and a half worth of payments left on my Mustang. But my other trusty vehicle is a 1983 Ranger pickup I bought off my
Dad a couple of years ago. I own it free and clear. And I drive it more often than I thought I would when I first bought it. It always starts, the A/C works, you can haul tons of stuff in it, and it's really cheap to maintain. In fact, I've spent very little on this truck, other than putting a $98 dollar Blaupunkt CD stereo in it (which sounds unbelievable for 98 bucks) and putting a $200 set of tires on it (which will last forever because the last set had over 40,000 miles on them and still had tread left, but were starting to dry rot after about eight years of service.)
This morning I drove the truck to work, which I always do when it looks like rain because smacking up a $1,000 truck on a rain-slicked street is a lost less painful than smacking up a car which you still don't own and has a $1,000 insurance deductable. While rocking to the new Minter Mix CD (I particularly enjoyed this old song about a robbery in which the guy keeps saying "Dallas Texas!") and rolling effortlessly on a new set of tires, I was convinced that the 1983 Ranger was one of the best investments I've ever made. The next time I've gotta buy some wheels, I'm goin' cheap. And I'm picking out something that's hopefully as reliable as the Ranger. Better to own and pay an occasional repair bill than string yourself out on $300 car payments for five years.
Dad a couple of years ago. I own it free and clear. And I drive it more often than I thought I would when I first bought it. It always starts, the A/C works, you can haul tons of stuff in it, and it's really cheap to maintain. In fact, I've spent very little on this truck, other than putting a $98 dollar Blaupunkt CD stereo in it (which sounds unbelievable for 98 bucks) and putting a $200 set of tires on it (which will last forever because the last set had over 40,000 miles on them and still had tread left, but were starting to dry rot after about eight years of service.)
This morning I drove the truck to work, which I always do when it looks like rain because smacking up a $1,000 truck on a rain-slicked street is a lost less painful than smacking up a car which you still don't own and has a $1,000 insurance deductable. While rocking to the new Minter Mix CD (I particularly enjoyed this old song about a robbery in which the guy keeps saying "Dallas Texas!") and rolling effortlessly on a new set of tires, I was convinced that the 1983 Ranger was one of the best investments I've ever made. The next time I've gotta buy some wheels, I'm goin' cheap. And I'm picking out something that's hopefully as reliable as the Ranger. Better to own and pay an occasional repair bill than string yourself out on $300 car payments for five years.
posted by john clarke at 7:34 AM
3 Comments:
Love the random 'Dallas Texas' there is no rhyme or reason to when he says it.
i drive a 93 ford f150 that bob bought for $5000.00 in tennessee. it is clean, huge, and plays cassettes right now. ( all from 1991)
it only has liability insurance and i am not scared to go thru shady neighborhoods, i feel weird driving the jeep liberty in bad neighborhoods i feel like i am going to get jacked! we had a ford ranger before too, it was nice.
I remember the old Camaro you used to drive Whitney. It was so rock and roll. Unfortunately, there were no 1991 cassettes you could play in it because 1991 hadn't happened yet when you owned that General Motors masterpiece. Long live Camaros and 1991 rock.
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